WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday set final duties on billions of dollars of shrimp imported from Asia and Ecuador to offset foreign government subsidies, but spared two major suppliers - Thailand and Indonesia - from the import tax.
The seven countries named in the case - Thailand, Indonesia, India, Ecuador, Vietnam, Malaysia and China - exported close to $3.4 billion worth of shrimp to the United States in 2012, making it one of the biggest cases in the department's history.
The amount of government subsidies found by the Commerce Department varied from country to country, and in the cases of Thailand and Indonesia were so low the department said no duties were warranted on shrimp imports.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Jackie Frank)